I will start by wishing you the best for this holiday season and hope you had a great Xmas if you celebrated it.
Take a few minutes to watch this, really.
I would like to start by encouraging you to pause for a few minutes and watch this video and take one breath around the world. I did not know it despite its 26M views and watched it twice.
It feels very similar to the change of universe I experienced in the Amazon forest and then back to “reality” (make sure to watch until the end). Thank you Tatianna Ohnyeva for posting it in the PAUA What’sapp community. I would like to invite its author Guillaume Néry to a podcast and/or speak at a future PAUA event if anyone knows him.
This video is a perfect illustration of going from one world to another. In this case it’s the world we know the least, the Oceans. We are exploring space but most of the oceans remain a mystery. It’s also an illustration of how we can change our reality using different means. I have never tried free diving and there is someone in our community that does it so the next community call on the 3rd of January (every Tuesdays at 18h CET) will be about freediving (calendar invite here).
Xmas in silence last year, with the family this year
Last year, I went through Xmas and NYE in a 10 day silent meditation retreat at Pachamama in Costa Rica. I highly recommend it if you do not have young children. It was a very deep experience not to participate in the gigantic “buying stuff” for Xmas but also hard as I did not see my older children or friends for NYE.
I love Xmas as a family reunion tradition, of course. I also love NYE as a “hang-out with your friends” tradition too, no question.
This year I spent quality time enjoying the presence of my beloved older children Arthur, Gauthier, Gregoire and his girlfriend Sarah as well as a fantastic meal (still recovering from it)…
I followed “religiously” my dieta staying away from red meat, any sugar and of course alcohol. It’s been 9 months now so I got used to it and it’s become quite easy. I am doing my best not to be that guy who tells everyone they should not drink as I already said it. It’s challenging when other people bring the topic or ask why I stopped etc then I end up being that guy again! Fortunately we did not talk about it over dinner.
My fourth son Falco was born on November 29th and I have been spending time with him and Magdalena, as I should. No silent meditation this year.
I will write more about my impressions about the first weeks. It has been life changing of course.
Where is the Christmas we celebrate actually coming from?
I liked reading this Twitter thread on the history of Santa Claus unrolled here as well as the 10 biggest Xmas myths debunked. Learned a lot there. The “tradition” has definitely evolved a lot.
On that note, I wish you the best holiday season.
I missed writing often so I am going to write more again here and on my other newsletter. I will write more paid subscribers posts too. The voice in my dreams is what I sent only to them recently, more to come!
Have a great time with your family and close ones, wherever you are, I wish you the very best. Thank you for reading.
The gift of life and family for Christmas